St. Peter's Basilica Tour: Dome Climb and Art History

Discover St. Peter’s Basilica (one of the finest cathedrals) on a guided small group tour with a professional art historian. Enjoy a rare bird’s-eye view over Rome with this tour that includes a climb to the top of its dome.

Duration: 2 hours
Cancellation: 24 hours
Highlights
  • St. Peter’s Square - The most famous and the biggest square of the Vatican City. In the middle of the huge square enjoy the Obelisk from Egypt (over 2500 years old) Start your tour in St. Peters Square and perceive the all-embracing character of its majestic architecture. Understand the game of visual effects as were thought by its designer,…
What's Included
  • Skip-the-line access to the Dome via elevator
  • Professional tour guide assistance
  • High-quality headsets for tour commentary
  • All fees and taxes included
What's Not Included
  • Transportation is not included
  • Skip the line
Location
Best In Rome Tour
Borgo Vittorio
Meeting point is very close to the St. Piter's Basilica, just 1 minutes walking distance.
Cancellation Policy

For a full refund, cancel at least 24 hours before the scheduled departure time.

Customer Ratings
4.9
(150 Ratings)
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Shelby
Feb 28, 2025
St. Peter’s Basilica, Grottoes, and Dome Experience - Our guide, Alexandra, was phenomenal! She has so much insight on the history of St. Peter’s Plaza and the Basilica. Things that we had not been told previously by our tour guides! She was very upbeat and enthusiastic. She didn’t rush us through areas of the tour and pointed out everything that was a must-see. I expected our tour to be about 1.5 hours and instead we got over 3 hours of experience! Definitely recommend the dome of the Basilica experience!
Review provided by Tripadvisor
Chris_d
Feb 27, 2025
Great tour! Alexandra... - Great tour! Alexandra was passionate about the Basilica and gave us extensive knowledge about each section. A place you don’t want to miss!
Review provided by Viator
Lynn_c
Jan 28, 2025
Excellent Tour - Guide was excellent! She was very knowledgeable, thorough and personable - I learned things that I had not known before (even though I had been to St. Peter's Basilica on previous trips) - great insights! And, the Dome climb was very manageable - the view spectacular!
Review provided by Viator
Robert_b
Nov 3, 2024
Incredible - Absolutely beautiful to see this in person. However the best part of this tour was our guide Karen. Her level of knowledge was outstanding and truly made this our favourite tour in Rome.
Review provided by Viator
V7129hyfatimaf
Oct 11, 2024
Recommendation of the Guide Martinho - Martinho is a Portuguese-speaking Guide and provided us with a knowledge-rich experience. It exposes the historical facts with great clarity and rich detail. He is very attentive, kind and caring. He had special attention with an elderly gentleman who turned away from the group. I highly recommend looking for the tour with Martinho. Congratulations on your work. With affection and admiration Fatima and Jeferson of Brazil
Review provided by Tripadvisor
Patty_g
Oct 9, 2024
Book a tour! Well worth it. - The basilica was beyond amazing and the tour guide incredibly knowledgeable. I recommend a tour as opposed to viewing on your own. A big part of the experience is the stories & history. My only challenges came from the basilica not the tour company. 1). Long lines. They need to open more gates and sell a limited number of tickets per day. 2). We never made it to the top of the dome for the same reason. Selling times and limiting visitors would hekpnso much.
Review provided by Viator
Rodrigoc511
Oct 2, 2024
Amazing Guided Visit - The Guide Katy was very attentive, removed the doubts and explained everything he could. Sorry the time is short. But, no doubt, it's worth it.
Review provided by Tripadvisor
775nancyw
Sep 28, 2024
Excellent knowledgeable guide, beautiful setting - Be ready to be on your feet for a long time but it’s worth it. Very impressed with our guide. She was constantly telling us the history of the site. We were fortunate to only have 12 in our group. Beautiful.
Review provided by Tripadvisor
Jennifer_d
Mar 14, 2025
Bad experience - We arrived before time and made our way towards the meeting point as quoted on Viator. We were the. Told by the Swiss Guard that the area quoted was out of bounds due to the jubilee year. Tried to call the tour operator with no response so totally wasted journey for a tour we were told was not running and no response form the numbers orobided
Review provided by Viator
William_h
Nov 6, 2024
Skip the line? Nope, wait for hours in the rain. - After a delayed start due to unorganized staff -- we arrived at the spot to go into St. Peter's. It was supposed to be a skip the l.ine tour -- it was not. After a 30 minute wait in pouring rain -- we were told it would be at least another hour. The guide was fine -- the logisitics -- terrible. We had to leave as it was clear it would be a long, long wait. Refund please.
Review provided by Viator
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up to 10 guests
1 Adult
March 2025
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